Doom on Youtube and the people who post it.

Sometimes I like to go on Youtube to watch people play Doom. Either to see console versions I own but aren't hooked up just to remember or compare, to see wads and mods I haven't tried or to see what source ports I don't have yet look like. I've noticed an interesting theme to a lot of these videos, namely that the people who make them like to record themselves talking through them, reacting to stuff as it happens and generally saying nothing surprising or useful. I just saw one where the guy playing videoed himself and the game at the same time, and had a little image of himself in the lower right corner, superimposed over the game. He never looked at the camera. His face never changed, his head barely moved, so intent was he on the game.

My question to all of you is this: Do you like when people do that, or would you rather they just shut up and play? I'm not interested in hearing "if you don't like it, don't watch it". That's a no-brainer. And obviously I can turn the sound off. I'm just curious as to what you all think of these people's compulsion to share their experience so fully with us, when all we might want to do is see--and hear--what something new is like.

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The whole point of Let's Play videos is the commentary, as far as I'm concerned. There are definitely people who are really bad at it and should give up, but when you have a good commentator (or even better, multiple commentators) it enhances the experience. That said, unless it's something utterly horrible being mocked (like the Man vs. Wild game), I only watch Let's Plays of games I've already played. Seeing a new game in that format doesn't really work for me.

There are plenty of Doom videos without commentary, too. Several posters here regularly upload recordings of demos, for example:

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I enjoy stuff like that, especially japanese let's plays of IWBTG fangames. In most of them the language is so simple that even I can understand it even though 99% of my japanese knowledge comes from simply watching anime with subtitles.

To me even the most basic commentary like "oh shit!"/"fuck!"/"omg that was scary!" adds a lot to the experience, probably because it makes it easier to relate to the player. Adding a little image of yourself is a bit excessive though. And distracting. But there are some exceptions, like when people play with unusual control devices.

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I'm not interested in seeing any LP'er react to every little thing (if they even physically react). That's just a distracting extra and doesn't really add anything worthwhile to the video IMHO, and I really wouldn't be surprised if they overact for the sake of 'being funny' (when the reality is it's just painfully shit).

Now, Doom-centred LP channels.

When it comes to commentary, I don't mind listening to the LP'er talk absolute shit, provided that it's clear, coherent, and entertaining to listen to. None of that fucking mumbling about nothing in some monotone voice, or endless shouting and swearing; not because I find the latter offensive (I really don't), but because it's completely unnecessary to pepper commentary with countless f-bombs and other 'clever' use of colourful language. It's just covering up for being completely and utterly useless in front of a mic. They've also got to be reasonably competent at whatever WAD they're playing too; there's really no fun in watching some clueless ballbag trying to play Doom, controlling the game so badly that it seems like they have a set of soggy dicks for fingers, only for them to keep getting killed by the same ambush for several minutes of a video and then eventually IDDQD/IDKFA'ing their way out of trouble. There's no entertainment in that.

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People are interesting when they have personality, but people uploading videos of them talking while playing through games are unlikely to have personality. It's an unfortunate catch 22.

Every once in a while you find someone who understands commenting is more than simply blurting out every half-assed thought going through your mind as your attention is divided, and those who are good at it can be worth watching.

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Generally, when people are being amusing, I like it, but for a much different reason than usual: I can put it going as background noise. This can mean, however, that the actual video is a bit of a failure and not really worth watching, which isn't a good thing. At that point I'm just really listening to the audio while I work, and maybe I'll flip to the video tab to see if anything interesting happens.

When people are doing reasonable commentary on a game though, describing things about it, things about what they're doing (sometimes, depends on the type of things they're doing), I feel though that it actually helps draw me into the video. Spewing lots of nonsense, even if it's related to the game, tends to either turn me off or places the video in the first category.

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If the person's voice isn't annoying, I usually watch it. There's a handful of players that simply put typing on the vid instead of talking, and I usually lean towards those more. There was this cool reviewer called GiggityGoogity who seems to have disappeared, which is a shame: he made some decent reviews.

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They've also got to be reasonably competent at whatever WAD they're playing too; there's really no fun in watching some clueless ballbag trying to play Doom, controlling the game so badly that it seems like they have a set of soggy dicks for fingers, only for them to keep getting killed by the same ambush for several minutes of a video and then eventually IDDQD/IDKFA'ing their way out of trouble. There's no entertainment in that.

Blind LPs can be fun, but I agree. It's much more entertaining to watch someone who knows what they're doing play than someone who doesn't. This is where multiple commentators is nice - the expert plays, while the other guy(s) react to the game. On that note, live recordings are much better in that format than pre-recorded ones, since the expert can just show off the others' questions, rather than answering them. (The worst are the ones that pretend to be live, but are obviously prerecorded.)

Also, anyone who likes LPs should check out Game Center CX. It's a Japanese TV show where a comedian mostly plays through Famicom games, with a sprinkling of slightly newer consoles. It's pretty fun to watch, and a lot of the games they play got English releases so you'll probably be familiar with them. You can grab subs from this SA thread:

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LP's bother me. Really, they bother me. Reactions aren't my kinda thing because there's only so many times a screaming/swearing fit can be funny; and some folk lose all coherence quite early on and just use the same damn insult for everything in the game that represents a threat.

We sit and chat about the gameplay after-the-fact, like film-makers would a DVD commentary. Not saying it's 'better' or even ideal, but it's more up my street, since there's a genuine opportunity for some banter, as per the title of these things; Banterthrough.

I was doing the gameplay, too. Direct any "you sure do suck at this game" comments to someone who cares. ;)

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Such Let's Plays let you see all that's in the game without having to invest the time yourself. A good personality to go along with it helps tons. I haven't found any DOOM commentators I really like yet.